Horse trailers include space in which one or more horses are enclosed during transportation. Most trailers include wide doors in their rear to allow horses to be easily loaded into the trailer. As the horse is loaded, it is brought forward to a point in the trailer just aft of the front wall of the trailer. A "chest bar" is used to position the horse in the trailer. As the name suggests, as the horse is loaded from the rear of the trailer and brought forward its chest will contact this chest bar, precluding further forward motion of the horse. The chest bar is located such that it stops the horse at a point where its head will have sufficient room to extend 2-3 feet beyond the chest bar and not contact the front wall of the trailer.
The empty space horizontally between the chest bar and the front wall of the trailer and vertically below the head and neck of the loaded horse has traditionally been used to store the tack. "Tack" is a term used in the horse training and riding industry to denote the equipment used in connection with horses such as bridles, bits, reins, grooming tools, blankets, etc. Compartments for such storage are known in the art. These compartments are typically boxes which define the above-identified empty space and include a door or doors for access thereto. However, the use of a permanent tack compartment in this area precludes the use of the area for other purposes when tack storage is not desired.
An additional desired purpose of a horse trailer is to provide an enclosed space for handlers, trainers and the like to change attire and/or carry out other activities requiring privacy. Horse trailers including a permanent, separate changing room forward of the horse for these purposes are known in the art. However, the existence of a completely separate and permanent changing room within a trailer adds not only substantial weight to the trailer, it also greatly increases its cost, effectively precluding their practical use.
Thus a need has arisen for an apparatus which is capable of configuring multiple compartments within a horse trailer to alternately provide a compartment for storage of equipment or a privacy enclosure, as needed.